[BlackandBlue]

WTF?

[classical]

Grady Martin wrote:

yeah - counting to 9/9/9

Which, as windup also noticed in chat, is '666' upside down.

I think we have our date. Just mass-emailed all the Watcher addresses I could find, so I'll see what comes back...

edit:: ahahaha, I don't think the Watchers appreciated my mass email about the date and 'knowing when', since I just got this back at least six or seven times:

Quote:

you can stop it before then; thinkthinkthink

[Grady Martin]

yeah - counting to 9/9/9

the checkmate is from Blade Runner - Sebastien and Tyrell's game - and also the conclusion to the Immortal Game - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immortal_game - played on 21 June 1851 - June 21, hey, that's summer solstice

[double spoiler hex protection]

Spoiler (Rollover to View):

IG, OOG... whatevs

[/double spoiler hex protection]

[classical]

So windup discovered this little counter on Brian Bricker's website.

What's it counting down to? Midnight at 09/09/09.

edit:

JJDeMolay on Twitter wrote:

Bishop to King 7. Checkmate, fucker.

[windup angel]

re: gamejacking, I'd kind of been under the impression that this was all part of the story.

Remember way back when

Quote:

those flyers (38 were posted) were NOT altered like that before going up. This is twice in two days that soebody has thrown shit in the gears -- and it's soebody who knows a hell of a lot ore about what's really going on than your little forum is letting on.

I had kind of thought that that was the sort of thing that they were talking about when talking about gamejacking

Remember also from here

Quote:

tvonfantine There is no veil my friend. We are all pawns in this. When I speak of my rules, I don't mean rules that I create. I speak of rules that I must live by also. tvonfantine You shallow brood. I sought Kelvin to find you. tvonfantine I sent King running. Scampering off with his poor Queenie. Saved him from the Feds in a strange twist of "fate." strangebr00 Saved him so you could find him again. tvonfantine No. So you could.

And here

Quote:

tvonfantine: What do I have in store? I am but a pawn in this game also, my friend.

I had kind of gotten the impression that BOTH sides had set up games in order to recruit agents (or whatever), and that BOTH sides were messing with each others games. Although I don't think I could put my finger on any one thing that led me to that conclusion, it was more intertextually reading between the lines. I thought the so-called "gamejacking" was IG and between the Watchers and Rage, messing with each others agendas - I didn't think they were referring to Kade. But reading the last days posts, looks like maybe I was the only one making that assumption

[elfis]

[meta and oog] I strongly suspect that the PMs for this story / game are over-embellishing the supposed game-jacking. If my limited knowledge of the alleged game-jackers is even semi-accurate they are not IG and not game-jacking so much as watching and warning OOG about the nature of the alleged PMs.

If the assumptions regarding who the PMs are is correct then blurring of the lines and the breaking of traditional rules associated with unforums are to be expected.

I'm not even convinced this is a traditional ARG in the "game" since ... I'm thinking it is more along the line of future PM recruitment as is alleged regarding Incunabula / Ong's Hat etc. ... or maybe this will turn out to be the arg to end all args if you listen to the alleged game-jackers.

But what the heck do I know, I'm just a paranoid ARG-watcher worried about the misuse of such "games" for much more nefarious purposes - which is largely speculative anyway. I'm also interested in the flip-side, how ARGs can be used for the greater good.

But unless DE/Kade has been a shadow-sleeper-cell-ARG-agent since 2003 (http://www.dreamsend.blogspot.com ) ... or has since been recruited by a competing ARG developer ... or has had his online identity stolen and resurrected as a game-jacker ... I just don't buy the idea that there are two warring factions of PMs at play here - probably just the original designers struggling with some interlopers and possible monkey-wrenching by simply pointing out the meta elements.

I hate to have even posted this ... oh well.

"I'm Sorry" if my interjection is off-base or worse, feeding the big game-jacker conspiracy.
[/meta and oog]

[Lunsford]

No wonder I can't grasp what is and isnt IG. From the first post, things haven't been on the up and up.

[3v1L Schwinn]

Quote:

Mr. Wulf, <snip> To be fair with you, the data collection break is an unfortunate detour that we have been forced down due to a very elaborate hijacking process. One which has been only mildly visible to your group, but which has caused much consternation on our end. It seems that every time we parry or duck, we are met by a fist already in motion. Frankly, I am in awe of the planning/synchronicity that has challenged us since April 8th and I dare say that we have found ourselves coordinating our production within the confines of a large scale, yet darker, model of itself. </snip>

Not to throw a monkey wrench (or Munki wrench) in to the cogs of our finely tuned machine.
Kelvinator Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 12:49 am

http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/posting.php?p=608181&mode=topicreview&postorder=DESC#608181
The events in MK's email take place on the 3rd of April and again on the 8th of April. So they have been fighting a possible game jack since the very beginning or...

[classical]

Well, that explains the image!
(Oooh, jesus, that's a perfect reference. Everything I ever felt watching Synecdoche, New York sums up my feelings for this game perfectly. If y'all haven't seen it, do so, and be prepared to walk away unsettled, questioning who and where you are.)

Anyway. Funny, the responder should desire us to share our real information freely, but they continue to hide behind a persona. Feh. It sounds mostly like he's just using the name to hide behind, though the 'good evening, Brother' thing makes me wonder.

However, we have to remember that our Brian D. Bricker is, in a sense, not the real one. We all know that there is a real, honest-to-god Brian D. Bricker out there, but... we've only been talking to a 'fake' Brian D. Bricker that is/was puppeted by Eric. Which is why, I feel, that chat with Eric happened in the first place--to expose the strings, rather than allow us to believe that character!Bricker was real!Bricker playing himself.

So as far as we know, we actually haven't 'found the writer' yet.

And part of me wonders if that's a challenge.


also, rereading: '... better pinpoint those who have embedded themselves into the world of Portnoy King and The Oracle as agents of whatever organization that mocks us ...'

Does that mean... the Watchers are not IG? Or some of them aren't IG? Or, perhaps, weren't supposed to be IG? I can't recall any place they've given us incorrect information, just very cryptic and not-useful-til-later information... but they did lead us to the ticket and oraclewatch.org. So while they are IG, this sentence makes me wonder wtf is going on here.

Don't get me wrong--I love the flexibility this game has had in incorporating not just the gamejacks into the storyline, but also its players (/cough). But it's beginning to reach a point where it'll be hard to stay just between the ditches when the mudslide floods onto the road.

The gamejack would explain the general pause in activity on the PM's side of things, but... fuck, part of me just wants to throw up my hands and say this entire gamejack is IG, Kade/DE is a puppet of the PM, and all of this mess was all intentional. It's just so much easier that way, even if I can't begin to comprehend the amount of planning it would take to get there. Bleh.

I will continue to the play 'the game', or what I perceive to be 'the game', but jesus fucking christ this is so complicated. This game has me so captivated and yet so confused that it been invading my dreams for weeks now. No lie.

[DarkWings]

So the question poses itself. Find the writer and risk changing the game. Or more waiting. What exactly are they baiting us to do? Or is it something more obtuse because of the email stating the hijack and such, and seemingly blurring ingame/oog?

[Wulf74]

Heh - I feel as if I was just clouted upside the head. When I registered on the OracleWatch website the other day, under the "Thoughts" portion, I asked a question. Specifically why they needed all of my information. To be clear, it's not because I'm paranoid about identity theft, or the like - but because I have email/twitter/IM/etc setup under the name Wulf - to keep it separate from my RL stuff. The response I received was... startling?

Quote:

Mr. Wulf, Although I personally do not understand the desire to keep Game and RL seperate, and I highly doubt that it is ultimately possible as boundaries are pushed, I respect that each has his own reasons for being involved, or not being involved. To be fair with you, the data collection break is an unfortunate detour that we have been forced down due to a very elaborate hijacking process. One which has been only mildly visible to your group, but which has caused much consternation on our end. It seems that every time we parry or duck, we are met by a fist already in motion. Frankly, I am in awe of the planning/synchronicity that has challenged us since April 8th and I dare say that we have found ourselves coordinating our production within the confines of a large scale, yet darker, model of itself. Think Synecdoche, New York and you at least have the concept of the strange equilibrium that drives our daily efforts. But I digress. We are compiling contact information for two reasons; the first is to keep honest "gamers" such as yourself more engaged as we move forward, and the second is to better pinpoint those who have embedded themselves into the world of Portnoy King and The Oracle as agents of whatever organization that mocks us. Please rest assured that your information will in no way be visible to anyone, except the most senior among us, and it will never be shared. A few final words; we are not the catalysts of that dark synchronicity starting to move through your ranks, and if your group is ever lost -- TRULY lost -- then I suggest finding the writer. He is real. But please make it your last and only option because once you do it, everything changes. Good evening, Brother. Hiram Abiff

Now, there's obviously much to discuss here. The reason I didn't post this immediately, was because part of it sounds very IG, and part not. With the problems he describes with the game jack, frankly I didn't want to encourage those that are trying to ruin it for the rest. But I have faith in our PM's. The other reason being the last paragraph:
<snip>.. if your group is ever lost -- TRULY lost -- then I suggest finding the writer. He is real. But please make it your last and only option because once you do it, everything changes.<snip>
.. at first I thought only of Bricker and wondered how on earth contacting him would change anything - because we already have. I talked it over with Schwinn this morning, and he reminded me of the email he had gotten from "Eric". The guy who lost his job for the ad-libbing he did with me in iRC. I don't think we should ever have any reason to contact Eric at this point, as he is so far OOG, that all he could (if he even did) offer would throw open the curtain IMO.

And the part that really caught my attention was the way he ended the letter:

Quote:

Good evening, Brother. Hiram Abiff

As some of you may recall, I mentioned early on my interest with Freemasonry - and it became a connection point with Port and I. "Brother" is the preferred form of address when speaking with another Mason. And Hiram Abiff, is a very central, important name when it comes to Freemason's.
We obviously haven't moved away from the Templar/Freemason connection as I thought maybe we first had - after "Jacks Demolay" - I hadn't seen a lot, except a few obscure references. Now however, we have 2 names that are synonymous with Templars and Freemason's. How it figures in? Well, that part I don't know - maybe they're just using the names.

Anyway, sorry for the book - and this is the only reason I can think of as to why they would say talk to me, as it's the only thing I hadn't posted immediately....

[windup angel]

I'd be tempted to consider "speak to the Wolf" as a reference to Wulf74.

[xomunkixo]

Does that mean it's time to talk to Rage? Or that we have to wait?

[classical]

Hmm. I see what you are saying. Might be a townhome of sorts, then.

Still! Weird that he would give me an out-of-date address. I have a feeling I was not supposed to see this address... I did send an email to him, but since he's apparently out of town for however long, I dunno if I'll get a response.

edit;; huh

I got a very general 'vacation response' type of message from Bricker. So no thoughts as to what the hell is up with this address yet. However, it had this image attached, which has this written at the bottom:

"'Hmm.' She paused thoughtfully. 'I should speak to the Wolf before (persuing?) the writer.'"

(A very gentle cluebat, perhaps?)

[windup angel]

classical wrote:

Judging by the satelite view, it seems to be in a commerical district in a larger building... there might be multiple offices inside that building, too. Definitely not a house, though.

Sorry, I disagree - look at this picture, and read the description, of a property just around the corner

I agree that these buildings do look weird. But that appears to be a be a listing for a 3 bed, 2 bath house or condo or townhome or something. The "bird's eye view" on that page can actually be moved, and if look off to the left just a little bit, there are 2 swimming pools. Some of the parking is covered & some isn't. This all smells residential, not commercial, to me.

And people run daycare's out of their homes, it is difficult to tell if that listing for a daycare is recent or obsolete.

If it was me, I'd just contact Bricker and just ask him what's up with the address he gave you.